


March of Robots: drawings and ramblings

by Twisted_and_shout



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Art, Body Image, Classical References, Drabble Collection, Drawing, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Drugs, Gen, Gender Identity, How Do I Tag, LGBTQ Themes, March of Robots drawing challenge, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overdosing, Robot Feels, Robotics, Robots, Science Fiction, Violence, mentions of - Freeform, specific tags in the chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:06:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23095312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twisted_and_shout/pseuds/Twisted_and_shout
Summary: Drawings of robots, thoughts about their worlds
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	1. Introduction

Hello! Quick introduction: here I post some of the drawings I'm doing for this March of Robots 2020 along with some thoughts on the worlds and situations I imagined.

If you want to take a look at my other drawings for MoR, you can find them at my [DeviantArt page here](https://www.deviantart.com/twisteris17)

So, then! I'll just... put here the pics and their original captions and start rambling...

WARNINGS about content in chapter titles/at the beginning of chapters, but the art will all be pretty tame, it's just themes that can turn a little darker

I hope you enjoy!

[ Also, yeah, this is totally what I'm doing instead of spending more time on my WIPs, but! They're very much not abandoned, I'm still writing, tho more slowly. I just really wanted to start drawing a bit more and found the perfect excuse, I couldn't let it pass. ]


	2. Day 2: Danger (robot puppy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Themes of animal handling (mentions of animal mistreatment), robot mistreatment, violence

**But surely, such a innocent looking puppy robot can't be dangerous, right? Right??**

_______________

As I drew this, I asked myself why, _why_ give a robotic dog made to look like a puppy _sharp teeth_ , other than it simply being that way so that it can be a cheap plot device for a B movie.

So, the answer I gave myself is something along these lines: 

In this possible future, to avoid issues of animal mistreatment and to decrease cases of animal abandonment, people interested in adopting an animal companion are required/strongly recommanded to have a prior trial period with a robot programmed to simulate the pet's behavior and with all key characteristics that should be kept in mind by owners.

It's a good practice, but in this specific case, something went wrong during the trial period.

[WARNING FOR VIOLENCE - 1 KID INVOLVED]

Puppy had been left in the garden with the human Kid, a game of fetch going on, the Adult supervising the Kid heading back inside for a moment to tend to something.  
Then, screaming started outside, and the Adult running out found the Puppy with his teeth sinking into the Kid's arm, the tiny human crying and hitting the robot with his other hand to get him to let go.

They managed to get the Puppy off, but the wounds were nothing to scoff at. A lawsuit was filed against the producing company.

Now, the Puppy is confined to a restricted area waiting for the proceedings.

The family wants Puppy detroyed and the company to pay them back for the cost of the robot and the medical expenses.  
The company insists the damage done to the head circuits of Puppy cannot be accidental and has been likely caused by a blunt object, thus enabling the abnormal behavior. They want the Kid to undergo a psychological evaluation, but the family is refusing, as _they_ are the damaged party.


	3. Day 3: Shocked (kiss)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on gender in robots - So yeah, gender/lgbtq+ themes

**Squarey was really shocked by that kiss from Roundy**

___________________

So, how would robots perceive gender? 

When drawing this I tried not to give any classic gender connotation to these two robots (who I named Roundy and Squarey in a very imaginative way, yay), as I actually think of them both as non-binary/agender.

And then I started thinking about gender in robots, as beings brought to life in a world of mostly gendered species.  
But let's be honest, humans probabily would design robots for the one specific purpose and not bother with programming anything relevant to gender in, let's say, a robot meant to solder things together. Or even in robots meant to appear more human like, e.g. a mailman robot or a firefighter, I doubt they'd be designed with genitals, but interacting with humans and having a learning artificial intelligence would mean dealing with the concept of gender sooner or later.

So yeah, a big trip on gender identification in robots.  
Maybe they wouldn't care. Maybe they would but couldn't do anything about it, either because it's not up to them to decided or because they have to be a certain way for their designed purpose (e.g. a massive robot meant for heavy lifting etc who feels she'd like to be more feminine).  
Or maybe, and I admit I really like this thought, if they cared and had troubles with their parts, they could easily exchange whatever part is causing them trouble (genitals if they have them or even just body parts that are too bulky/too slender/too curvaceous to go with the body image they feel right for themselves). Just removing the offending pieces and sobstituting them with something more comfortable. :D

I just feel like there could be much to explore on this matter (and maybe it has already been done? At least some? I don't know, I'm quite ignorant in robot literature).


	4. Day 4: Three (Three Graces)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lil thought on body types in robots

**The prompt on day 4 was "Three". It immediately made me think of Botticelli's Three Graces. In robot version, of course.**

_______________

The only thing I have to say about this is that as I drew, I sketched Botticelli's poses first and then started giving each character details and... it hit me that there are no rules among robots about what body type looks unhealthy or something like that, robots could technically be as skinny or as thicc as they like and it wouldn't matter. It'd be an interesting idea to explore.


	5. The Foam Den (Day 7: Substance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Themes of drug use, abuse, overdose, possible death (of robots, but yeah).  
> Also, considerations on appealing aesthetics for robots.

**Sometimes, even robots feel like wanting to stop processing everything for a while. Here's place that can help them: a Foam Den.**

**But be careful, dear robotic customer: the foam can cover circuits to stop the transmission of signals, leaving you numb for a while, but don't go for low quality, or it will take too long to evaporate and give you permanent circuit damage. Don't overdose either. ❤**

*

**Inspired by opium dens.**

_______________

So yeah, with a prompt like "substance" my mind went rather quickly down the road of substance abuse. But then, how would a robot do drugs?

I looked for a reason first, and well, if I were always processing, maybe for a job I even find pointless, or if my job didn't require any higher brain function but I had them anyway.. if I were stuck in a world that sees me as a second class citizen or less (I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes here, it's simply the classic dystopian world that creates robots but of course they're not treated fairly etc).. well, to me this screamed of wanting to disconnect, to stop thinking about anything for a while.

Hence, opium. Hence, foam. 

I thought about going for weed and make it all a little less daunting and bit more chill, but it got in my head that foam can be pretty damaging for circuits, and even without that I thought of it as a pretty aggressive shut down, not a relaxed slow numbing. Aaand I couldn't think of other things that could count as robotic drugs, so I went with this idea. (And probably killed blue bot in the process... He's not doing good either way) 

\- 

Also, going the whole opium way I took the chance to explore the idea of the misses of the den, which _could_ be not really historically accurate? I mean, someone had to run the places, but I don't know if scantly dressed women lingering around was included in the deal or it's just something added at a later time. or that only happened in some places that thought that offering more variety of "entertainment" was interesting. 

Anyway, with the two robot girls here I decided go two different ways, both rooted in the idea that this establishment caters to robots, not humans. 

So: one-eyed, shiny robot girl is designed that way because not all robots look properly human, and it stands to reason (to me) that when looking for a partner, or even a momentary distraction, their would look for someone equally deviating from the human standard. Or instead went for someone as similar to humans as possible, as it's Violet's case. And if you wonder about her circuits etc showing, well: these robots don't wear clothes, so what would our showing skin translate into? Showing inner parts, of course (imo). After all, it takes a lot to expose yourself like that, to let someone look into you and your inner workings. So yeah, I figure transparent or semi-transparent cases could be sexy to robots. 


	6. Chapter 6

I guess this is all I have to say as of now, but I'm sure I'll return to the subject of robots because it's fascinating to explore.

More drawings (mostly of robots as of today 04/04/20, haven't got around to publish much else this March) at my [DeviantArt page.](https://www.deviantart.com/twisteris17)

[March of Robots](https://marchofrobots.com/) is a drawing challenge started by Chocolate Soop.


End file.
